November 4, 2002	Monday	Sha’aban 28,1423

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KARACHI, Nov 3: St. Michael’s Convent School will take Karachi Grammar School in the final of the Rev. Father Robert D’Silva Golden Jubilee Invitation Inter-School cricket tournament, after St. Patrick’s High School winning the semi-final clash by seven wickets were disqualified from the tournament after a protest lodged by St. Michael’s that the winners fielded an overage player which led to the protest being upheld by the tournament committee.

It was stated in the protest that Asad Ali Khan, who scored 48 runs for St. Pats, was overage and after a thorough investigation it was found that the lad was indeed overage by two months.

Winning the toss and batting first on the turf wicket at the National Bank of Pakistan ground, St. Michael’s struggled to 168 for eight wickets in their 35 overs although openers Faraz Ghani, son of former Test star Nasim-ul-Ghani and Shah Asjad put on 93 runs for the opening wicket.

After Faraz was dismissed for a polished knock of 74 runs and Shah left soon after for 29 runs, the rest of the batting line-up was left in disarray. Tariq Anwar two for 22 and Shah Zaib two for 27 were among the wickets for the fielding side.

Set to score 169 runs for victory St. Patrick’s reached target in 31 overs after losing only three wickets.

Skipper Fawad Mehdi and Asad Ali Khan with 48 runs apiece to their credit, put their team on the winning trail with an opening stand of 86 runs. With Usman Usmani unbeaten with 37 runs and Jerry De Cruze (20) chipping in, St. Patrick’s swept into the semi-finals, but the joy was short lived as their team were later disqualified.

The final will now be held on Tuesday, between Karachi Grammar School and St. Michael’s Convent School from 10.00am at the NBP Sports Complex.